“That [win over Nigeria] turned a few heads in Africa and earned us some attention.

“We backed that up at the finals, where we faced Mali, the runners-up at the last world finals, in the group phase. Our young players still managed to qualify and they deserved to do so too. We’ve come a long way.”

That remarkable feat on the continent has earned Niger a tough World Cup group D against three-time champions Brazil, three-time runners-up Spain and stubborn North Korea.

Yet an upbeat coach Tiemogo, who is a former national team captain, insists they are not travelling to India as tourists.

“I can’t guarantee that we’ll go on and win the competition but I can guarantee that we’ll make people talk about us, just like we did in Africa,” he insisted.

“Maybe we can’t work miracles, but we can do our best.”

The tiny West African nation will be looking to Ibrahim Marou and Abdoul Karim Sanda to provide firepower upfront – both scored two goals apiece in Gabon.